Receiving your Sign National Sign Company Installs
Your production team works hard to create the perfect sign.
Your production team works hard to create the perfect sign. They crate it and then entrust it to fate. We have the perfect receiving area, with forklifts, direct loading on trailers going to the install site and when needed, temporary storage inside and outside. We accept odd shapes and oversized crates as well. We are setup to receive, but more than that, we also know what to do when things go wrong.
If a sign Is Damaged in Shipping, Who Is Responsible?
Did it get “forked”, dropped, crushed, hit? Damage is more than possible, it happens. We inspect every crate and we reject shipments that have crate damage. Who Is Responsible for Damaged freight? The truck driver will avoid responsibility and if it comes off the truck and he get a signature, the liability shifts to the receiver. The fingers start pointing as soon as a damaged crate arrives. We initially reject all damaged shipments and photograph the damage; we call you in real time – like right now! If the damaged is noted and acknowledged, we often reverse direction and end up accepting it with the damage documented. If not the shipment goes back to the distribution center and the problem gets worked out over the next few days.
Is it a pain – YES it is, but it forced the responsibility back on the carrier and off you and us. It is also much simpler with a quicker resolution if the initial reaction is rejection. The truckers hate this, but it is better for the 2 of us.
The main causes of damage we see are:
- It got forked. That is a forklift operator stabbed it with a fork.
- Drops, scraps and Impacts – This is a handling issue and happens when loading and unloading, but it also happens with multiple stops as other crates are moved around yours. We also have seen rubbing over distances.
- Item Count is wrong, you ship 3 crates and 2 arrive. We treat this as damage – rejection “now” prevents shipper denial later.
- Crating problems. We are sign experts, not crating experts. And crates cost money. However, crating without solid sides allows things – like a fork, to hit.
Damage is a loss of that perfect sign, time and money but also brings about a negative customer experience. It also drives additional labor, storage, repair, and salvage.
We fix signs
We are more than just installers. Yes we can receive your signs from flat beds, low boys, box trucks, shipping containers and we can deal with odd sizes, odd shapes and after hours receiving. But we do more:
- Paint all messed up? We have Matthews and with your paint spec we can repaint the damaged section or the whole sign. Done correctly the carrier will pick up the bill on insurance and together we can avoid a cross county return or remanufacture.
- Metal Dents, bent panels, frame damage? We can make replacement panels, patches and even can cut out frame damage, make a new frame piece, weld it back in and save your sign.
- Acrylic smashed, cracked, or ruined. Yes re can CNC rout you a new one. We also do vinyl patches for trans and cut vinyl. We can print you a new digital print too!
- Missing hardware or patterns, yes we can use your fastener vendor and drop ship in matching hardware, we reprint patterns damages by water or other problems.
Signs for San Diego is the correct place to get sign installation for a lot of reasons. One is that we understand how to receive your signs. We also build signs, so all the equipment, materials and talent is here to fix shipping damage. Give us a call and let’s get your install going!
